


Warriors of Earth

by stargatefan_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-10-06 14:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10336253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatefan_archivist/pseuds/stargatefan_archivist
Summary: SPOILERS: NoneCONTENT WARNINGS: Some languageWhen the ’brawns’ half of SG-1 gets captured by the Goa’uld can the ’brains’ half save them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Warriors of Earth

Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson crawled along as quietly as they could on the high rock ledge. They were communicating only with hand signals now, since the tunnel they had been travelling through and the cavern it opened up into carried sound remarkably well. In fact that is how they had found it. They had heard voices coming from an opening in the mountainside. Silence seemed the easiest way to conceal their presence since the area was infested with a large number of Jaffa. 

Sam looked around the room carefully, staying as far back in the shadows as she could. _'Yes, there they were.'_ She could see the people they sought. Teal'c was lying with his back against a wall, his legs stretched out straight in front of him. Something seemed wrong about his position. Sam took out her field binoculars for a better view. She focus on his legs _'yeah, definitely broken.'_ She looked at Teal'c's face trying to get an indication of his level of pain. Sam could tell by his eyes that the pain must be intense.

She switched her focus to the other two occupants. Master Bra'tac didn't look much better than Teal'c. One of his legs appeared to be at a funny angle and by the way he was holding his arm, it was probably broken as well.

Finally her gaze rested on O'Neill. He appeared to have all his limbs intact, but hadn't survived unscathed considering the look of the wound on his head. Blood streaked a good portion of the left side of his face and he didn't seem to be conscious.

She handed her binoculars to Daniel who took a quick survey of the situation himself, before handing them back nodding. Sam had counted four Jaffa guards in the cavern with the prisoners, plus countless others just outside in the corridors. Too many to handle with a non-movable team. This was going to require some thought. The original O'Neill-type plan of shooting their way out wasn't going to work, because of the condition of her teammates. It was all too obvious that the Goa'uld in charge had enjoyed himself at SG-1's expense.

She indicated to Daniel with a shake of her head that they should head back the way they came. Again being as quiet as possible so the guards wouldn't notice the two small creeping humans. They needed a place where they could talk and think, and most importantly come up with a plan B.

When Daniel and Sam had gotten far enough away from the mountain's tunnels and caverns, and the numerous Jaffa, they stopped to try to come up with a solution. They had taken shelter in one of the many abandon buildings left on the planet's surface. There were remnants of the previous owner's lives scattered all around them.

This particular building looked like an old factory of some kind. The machinery from an 'age gone by' sat idle, gathering dust. Sam estimated from its appearance that the technology was equivalent to the mid 20th century Earth's. She could only assume that the Goa'uld had come and carted off the inhabitants or just destroyed them as potential threats. Major Carter gave a shiver when she realized how similar this society was to Earth, and how easily the Goa'uld had destroyed them.

Daniel was the first to speak.

"We're in trouble..."

He said in a slightly depressed tone.

"Now there's the understatement of the year."

She answered in an equally downtrodden voice. She glared a little at him for saying it out loud. _'Okay, Carter, get it together. The situation isn't hopeless...close, but not hopeless.'_ She took a deep calming breath.

"Okay, what's our situation?" 

Hoping to trigger some more positive thoughts by their stating the obvious. She started off. 

"We can't rescue them out the front...too many Jaffa." 

"...and we can't have them crawl out the tunnels because they can't ...ah...crawl...right now." 

Daniel said continuing the thought. From what they saw in the caverns, not one of their friends was going to make it out under their own power.

"...And we can't go through the gate for reinforcements...unless we can get the Jaffa to leave."

She finished. They had looked into this possibility earlier, only to find the gate heavily guarded by at least 30 Jaffa. Sam guessed that the Goa'uld had placed the guard after SG-1's presence was discovered. The Major wasn't sure whether this was to ensure the prisoners didn't escape or to prevent a rescue, either way it was a problem. Luckily the Goa'uld thought they had all the SGC personnel captured so there were no search parties that they needed to avoid, at least not yet.

Her teammate brought that point out into the open with his next remark. 

"...And once we do get them out, how do we transport them to the gate...without getting caught?"

_'Well, at least he hadn't said "if we get them out"'_ thought Sam, although she knew that Daniel was not one to quit, even when the situation looked hopeless. He had proven that often enough.

"So...where does that leave us?"

A silence fell over the room as neither person spoke. They both sat and contemplated possible solutions to this impossible situation.

The archeologist's gaze fell on the discarded equipment as he thought. There were machines of all shapes and sizes, carts, shelves, and tools whose purpose he could only guess, and would have liked to try if the situation wasn't so dire. _'Carts'_ a strange look came over his face as he stared at their wheels, and then at the long flat side of the wooden shelves.

He got up and went over for a closer look, playing with the wheels of an upended discarded cart. _'They still worked...'_

Carter, observing her co-worker and wondering what was fascinating that clever mind of his, got up to follow him over to the spot.

"Daniel?"

He turned to look at her, a small smile beginning to form on his lips.

"Sam...Did you ever have to ride around on those little scooter boards in PE when you were a kid?"

A light was beginning to dawn for Sam as to where Daniel was going.

"...you know the kind that you lay on your stomach with your feet up and push around with your hands?"

"Yes."

A smile starting to form on her face as well as she followed his train of thought. 

"Do you think you can build some?"

His eyebrows raising and his voice taking on a hopeful tone as he asked, indicating the discarded cart and other machinery. The Major's smile deepen. Suddenly the world seemed a whole lot brighter place than it had a few minutes before.

* * *

Daniel Jackson was lying on his stomach, pushing his way along the narrow tunnel on the makeshift scooter board that Sam had devised. It was slow going as the rusty wheels refused to roll smoothly about the rocky surface. He had greased them as much as possible with the leftover lubricant they had found in the factory. They didn't want their position given away by old squeaky wheels.

He pushed his way along with his gloved hands, negotiating the many twists and turns of the route. No matter how tiring this trip seemed he knew the return trip or trips would be worse. The empty longer scooter, that now trailed behind him, would be filled with one of his injured teammates. It would have been easier to just stand and pull the second board along, except the tunnel was only about 3 feet tall. It was either crawl on your hands and knees or scoot your way along, and his knees were still smarting from this morning.

He could sense rather than hear the Major behind him. There was only a soft pawing from their gloves as they pushed their way forward.

They had taken an inventory of their weapons. Officially they had his .45 with several extra rounds of ammunition, Carter's MP-5 with two extra clips, one zat gun, two grenades, and Sam's small knife. Not much to hold off 30 or 40 Jaffa and that was just here, there was at least that many at the gate as well. They would have to get extremely lucky. By mutual consent they decided to hold off on the ammo until it was absolutely necessary, which meant more creative solutions.

They had reached the cavern. Leaving the boards safely in the tunnels, they crawled along the ledge once again. _'Nothing had changed, there were the guys, none of which had moved...at all...not a good sign.'_ O'Neill still appeared to be unconscious and they still had four Jaffa guards.

Sam knew she had only one chance at this. If she wasn't fast enough, if she didn't zat all four before they raised the alarm, it would all be over. At least they were in-groups of two, that should help some. She carefully took aim, held her breath, and squeezed the trigger, re-aimed, and squeezed it a second time. Both sets of Jaffa crumpled quietly into the dust. 

She let out her breath, and then noticed Daniel doing the same, relief starting to color his face. Teal'c and Bra'tac having seen the Jaffa fall were quickly scouring the room, looking for the assailants. 

Sam and Daniel moved out of the shadows and began to lower themselves down to the floor. Sam dropped first and waited for Daniel to drop the rope and board pieces they had brought, before he too descended onto the cavern floor. 

The Major first disarmed the Jaffa making sure another zatting wasn't necessary. Jackson signaled for quiet as he approached the injured men. He came up to Teal'c first, pointed at his legs, and then acted like he was breaking pretend twigs with his hands. Teal'c simply nodded affirmative and when Daniel pointed to other points on his body, he just shook his head no. 

When Bra'tac looked as if to say something, Daniel quickly put his finger in front of his mouth indicating again the need for quiet. He then pointed at the older man's leg and arm and pantomimed the motions of breaking twigs once more. There was an affirmative nod. Well that pretty much confirmed their suspicions.

Carter in the meantime had started to check out the Colonel. What she saw she didn't like. The head wound looked worse up close. Blood coated most of the side of his head, matting a good portion of the silver hair. She lifted up his eyelids to check his eyes, only to be greeted by an unfocused look. Even with her limited medical knowledge she knew this wasn't good. They had to get the Colonel back, and soon. At least the wound had stopped bleeding.

Daniel tugged on the sleeve of her jacket. She turned and noticed he had removed his jacket, as well as his green military issued shirt. His upper body now clad only in his black tee, Daniel mouthed the word knife. She quickly retrieved her small knife and gave it to him. He began to cut up the shirt into strips. After several strips were cut he gave Teal'c a small stick, and indicated he should bite down. After a moment or so Teal'c understood and placed the stick between his teeth. 

The young scientist moved over to Teal'c's legs to begin the task of putting them into splints. He nodded to Teal'c, took a deep breath, and then gritting his teeth he began to pull his friend's leg, straightening the bones. He could feel the spasms of pain that surged through his huge friend. He kept working until Teal'c's leg was back in the correct position. He then attached a splint using the pieces of board and the strips from his shirt. 

When that leg was finished, he waited until Teal'c's breathing had returned to normal. Then receiving a nod from the giant man, Daniel moved to the other side of his friend and began to repeat the process on the left leg. When he finished, Daniel moved over to Bra'tac who, having watched the young man, took the stick, placed it between his teeth and nodded for Daniel to proceed. Working as quickly as possible, Daniel splinted both Bra'tac's arm and leg. The archeologist then made a cobbled-together sling for Bra'tac's arm by tying together several strips of the cloth. 

The Major had been busy tending to the Colonel. She had followed Daniel's example and stripped down to her black T-shirt, cutting up her shirt into bandages for her CO's head. She had cleaned up the wound as well as she could here; the rest would have to wait until they found a more secure spot. 

After donning their jackets once again, the smallest team members moved Teal'c over next to the wall directly under the rock ledge. Unfortunately for the big man, they had a hard time of it, and his legs hit the ground more than once causing new surges of pain. 

Looking up at the rock ledge, Sam realized how truly lucky they were. The ledge was almost invisible from down below. From the floor of the cavern the rock wall appeared to meet the ceiling and nothing more. So unless the Jaffa saw movement up there, they should be fairly safe. 

Daniel busied himself tying the rope underneath both of Teal'c arms and securing it around his middle. When Teal'c questioned their actions with an intense look in his eyes, Daniel pointed up toward the cliff edge. The large Jaffa nodded his head not really seeing how his two smaller teammates were going to pull this off, but knowing enough not to underestimate them. They were constantly surprising him with their abilities.

After moving Bra'tac and O'Neill next to the wall, Daniel and Sam each tied an end of the rope to their belts and started up. Daniel giving Sam a boost up onto the wall where she free-climbed the rest of the 15-ft surface. Daniel started to climb the first few feet and then used the loop of rope that the Major lowered to help him get the rest of the way. 

Once both of the youngest members of SG-1 were on the ledge, they each tied an end of the rope around themselves and began to pull. Slowly, after much effort, Teal'c began to move up the wall. Using their entire body weight, Daniel and Sam were soon able to get the much heavier Jaffa onto the rock ledge. Once Teal'c was safe, both the uninjured teammates collapsed to the floor of the ledge, attempting to catch their breath.

No matter how much they would have loved to just lay there for the next five minutes and recover, they both knew time was of the essence. They still had two close friends to get off that cavern floor. 

Sam was the first to recover and helped get the rope off Teal'c. Then she scrambled back to the cavern floor to hook up Bra'tac to the makeshift lift. Within a couple of minutes, they had Bra'tac up on the ledge followed shortly by Colonel O'Neill. The Colonel had been easier to lift than the other two. He was either lighter or their muscles were already starting to go numb.

Sam crawled over to Teal'c, handing him their one and only zat gun. He nodded in an unspoken agreement, and she patted his back in a silent pledge to return. She turned and helped Daniel load both Colonel O'Neill and Master Bra'tac onto the two long wheeled sleds. She and Daniel climbed aboard their scooters and began the long trip back through the tunnel, each pulling an injured teammate behind them, assured in the knowledge that Teal'c was guarding their backs. 

When they reached the end of the tunnel, Daniel quickly unloaded Bra'tac, helping the older man to sit against the tunnel wall. They didn't dare leave the tunnel before sundown. They wouldn't be able to conceal themselves at the slow pace they must take. Major Carter had scheduled the rescue only an hour and a half before the planet's two suns began to set. She had hopes that they would be able to slip away in the darkness before it was discovered the prisoners were gone. 

Daniel quickly turned his scooter and its longer sled around and started back down the low tunnel, making his way back to the last SG-1 member. It had taken them longer than they had planned to get the men through the tunnels; already the shadows were longer on the low tunnel walls as the suns began to dip low in the sky. He gave a tiny sigh of relief when he saw the light from the inner cavern. 

Teal'c nodded his head when Daniel approached, indicating everything was fine since they had left. Apparently there had been no unwanted visitors. Daniel got his caravan of sleds turned around and, with some help from Teal'c, managed to get the large man loaded aboard. Now there was only one thing left before they started back...the weapons. He needed to retrieve the guard's weapons to replenish their very low supply. 

It seemed only fair. The Jaffa had taken O'Neill, Teal'c, and Bra'tac's weapons, so they should replace them. Unfortunately, the Jaffa in the cavern were only armed with staff weapons, no zat guns. The zats would have been much easier to carry than the awkward staffs. There was nothing that could have been done for it. He couldn't very well have gone up to the Jaffa and ask them to please carry zat guns in the future, since they are much easier to carry when you steal them. 

Daniel looked down in the cavern seeing the stack of weapons in one corner where the Major had placed them. He took a second look... _'Where were the guards?'_ He looked around the room but saw no sign of them. Considering the place wasn't swarming with Jaffa looking for them, it was a safe bet they hadn't just left to call the alarm. 

There was only one possibility that Daniel could think of, he looked over at Teal'c now resting on his back on the scooter still holding the zat gun. Whether the guards had awoke and Teal'c had zatted them out of existence, or the large man had simply decided the guards were a liability SG-1 could not afford, he didn't know. But the truth was they were gone, and Daniel was sure that a couple of pushes on the trigger of the zat gun had erased all traces of them. He was once again glad that Teal'c was on their side. 

He handed Teal'c the rope and indicating he was starting down, knowing that the big man would be able to assist him back up with the strength of his arms alone. Just as Jackson prepared to lower himself, he felt a big hand on his arm. He looked up and saw Teal'c wasn't looking at him but rather at the door into the corridor. He looked at Daniel and shook his head, no. His eyes though, his eyes spoke volumes, they showed concern and worry. It looked like Teal'c's acute Jaffa hearing had picked up something, company was about to arrive soon. 

Jackson knew he had to get them into the relative safety of the tunnels. He quickly scrambled aboard the stomach scooter and began pulling himself and his friend into the growing darkness.

Daniel had made it about 100 ft into the dim tunnel when he heard a commotion in the room behind him. He froze. Not wanting to risk even the light padding sound of his gloves in the acoustic tunnel, especially now when the Jaffa were on the alert for them. He laid there and closed his eyes, trying not to breathe too loud. _'Oh, it felt so good just to rest... I am so tired.'_ All the work of earlier that day, plus the couple of round trips on the scooters, had really taken it out of him. 

Pulling Teal'c through the small corridor had not been easy. Quite a few times Daniel had to resort to using his feet to push them over a particularly rough spot on the floor. It had been slow trying to push himself and the large Jaffa along. His arms were screaming. He tried to relax and regain his strength. After a while he felt himself start to nod off, he shook himself awake in a surge of panic. That would be all they'd need, for him to fall asleep and perhaps give them away with a snore. 

About an hour later the sounds were beginning to die down in the cavern. Daniel decided he had better get going. They couldn't just stay there. He'd have to risk it. He leaned back and touched Teal'c on the shoulder to indicate he was going to try to go on. He could feel the larger man tense from the surprise of his touch.

Slowly Daniel pushed off starting back down the tunnel. Unfortunately, while they had been waiting, the suns of the planet had completely set and the tunnel was now pitch black. _'Well, there wasn't any off shoots in the tunnel so if I just keep going, we should be alright'_ thought Daniel as he pushed them forward, playing blind man's bluff with the tunnel walls. He felt sorry for Teal'c not knowing how many times the injured man's legs connected with the tunnel walls. 

* * *

Sam was biting her lip. It was about the only way that she could express her concern in their self-imposed silence. She sat in the dark with Bra'tac at the tunnel's entrance. They had heard the commotion outside and knew that the escape had been discovered. 

She prayed that Daniel and Teal'c were safe and hadn't been recaptured. It had been a long time since Daniel had started back down that tunnel to retrieve Teal'c. She only hoped they were okay. 

Bra'tac hadn't looked too worried so that had comforted her, that was when she could see his face. It was dark now, only the shadows from the planet's three moons lit the tunnel entrance. She hadn't risked using her small flashlight for fear the light might be seen. 

She hoped the Colonel was doing okay. She could no longer see him in the darkness. Last time she had checked there had been no change. He was still pretty dead to the world. 

Now that the moons had risen, the outside world was highlighted in shadows. Well, when they did find it was safe to leave, at least they would be able to find their way. There was still a risk that they would be discovered in the moonlight, but at least the odds were better than in full daylight, especially now that the search parties would be out. 

Something touched Samantha's arm in the darkness. Her heart jumped up into her throat. She realized a second later it was Bra'tac. Luckily she wasn't a screamer she thought, as her pulse rate began to slow back down to normal. _'Had he heard something?'_ she listened carefully, she didn't hear anything outside. She could just make out Bra'tac's silhouette in the dim shadows. He seemed to facing toward the inside of the tunnel. 

She listened again. This time she heard it too, a very soft sound coming from the direction of the cavern. She held her breath. _'This had to be them.'_ She scrambled over Bra'tac, being careful of his bad leg. She had to risk the light. If it were Jaffa, it didn't matter, they would be caught in mere seconds anyway. She took out her small flashlight, putting the beam directly into her hand and keeping her back to the outside to try to block as much of the light as possible in either direction. 

She peered down the tunnel to see the startled and then relieved face of Daniel Jackson.

The team waited a few more hours trying to get as much rest as possible. In what would be on Earth the very early hours of the morning, they took off. Major Carter figured they still had several hours before daybreak. 

They abandoned the scooters in the tunnel and loaded Teal'c onto a modified backboard with handles at one end and wheels at the other. Daniel had taken the straps from his pack to make a type of harness for himself to help pull it along. 

Teal'c didn't see how the smaller man was going to be able to do this. He knew how much effort it had taken Daniel just to get him through the tunnels. But Teal'c also recognized that determined stubborn look in Daniel Jackson's eyes. It would be useless to argue with him in this state. If he could, that was, they were still observing strict silence.

Jack had once said something about that look of Daniel's reminding him of a mule on his grandfather's farm. Teal'c wasn't sure what farm animals had to do with Daniel Jackson, but then again there were a lot of times he didn't understand O'Neill. The Tau'ri could be very strange at times. 

Major Carter had fashioned a crutch of sorts for Master Bra'tac, since he had one good leg and could 'walk' out. That left only Colonel O'Neill. He was still unconscious so they decided to put him on the travois with Teal'c. The only other option was to have Sam fireman-carry him out. O'Neill wasn't as heavy as Teal'c, but he was big enough Sam would never make it all the way back to the hiding place, and no amount of determination was going to make up for it. Teal'c was just going to have to hold O'Neill there. 

When they had made it 500 feet away from the mountain entrance, Daniel tied a couple of large branches to the end of the travois. Meanwhile, Sam went back and covered up their trail.

Daniel took the left side of the travois while Sam took the right.

Together they pulled the travois as they took off for the shelter of the abandon buildings. The team would need a good place to hide before morning came and the patrols would be out in force. There was no way to out run them at the pace they would have to travel. They would just have to wait until nightfall and then attempt to get to the gate as soon as possible the next day.

Sam was sure that General Hammond would know they were in trouble by now. They were two days overdue. Originally it had been a rescue mission to free Bra'tac from one of the Goa'uld underlords. He had been captured and was being held for the System Lords' arrival. It looked now like it had been a trap for SG-1. The Goa'uld must have guessed that Teal'c would not let his former master suffer at their hands. They might have caught them all, if it hadn't been for the famous Jackson luck. 

When they were camping that first night, a small native lizard had run without warning across the archeologist's hand. He almost immediately slumped into a coma-type state, where his breathing became shallow and his heart rate slowed down. The creature's skin had some kind of paralyzing agent, luckily it didn't stop any of Daniel's internal organs. Since they didn't know if it was safe to move him, Sam had stayed behind with Daniel; Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c had gone for help only to be turned back at the gate when they saw the large amount of Jaffa. 

While attempting to check out Bra'tac's condition, they had walked into the Goa'uld's trap. Daniel had awakened two days later, a bit stiff and confused, but otherwise fine. Fortunately, the Goa'uld would never assume that SG-1 would split up, so they never even looked for Sam and Daniel.

When their group arrived at the abandoned complex, Sam chose one of the central buildings. Hoping that if the Jaffa searched the buildings they would start at the outer most ones first. She was the first to break the silence.

"Is everyone okay?"

She glanced around at the group. Teal'c had surrendered Jack to her and now she was in the process of propping his back up against one of the walls. 

"Yes...as okay as the situation allows..."

Bra'tac answered, himself leaning against a wall. 

"...but for how long?...surely this place will be searched."

"Daniel and I are going to look for a place where we can hide until nightfall."

Daniel leaned over Teal'c, rubbing his shoulders.

"Teal'c are you okay?...Did I hurt you?"

concern coloring the young man's voice. He was thinking about all the jarring the bigger man had gone through that day with those broken legs.

"It is nothing...much preferable to being dead at the hands of the Goa'uld. Thank you, Daniel Jackson...I am fine."

Somehow that answer did little to alleviate Daniel's worry, who was still looking at Teal'c with concern.

"I am fine."

Teal'c repeated the assurance when he saw the look on the young scientist's face. Then Teal'c's face took on an equally intense look as he watched Daniel.

"...it is good to see you well."

Hidden in there somewhere was a question, Daniel just knew.

"Yeah...Well...Sam says I just woke up..."

Indicating his confusion over the past events himself, with a wave of his hands. 

* * *

It was somewhere after midnight when Major Carter opened the large packing crate in which she and the Colonel had been hiding. She tapped lightly on the crate next to hers.

"Daniel?"

She said softly keeping her voice to a whisper, not sure if they were truly alone. One side of the crate next to her opened, containing one archeologist and a master Jaffa. Daniel began to help Bra'tac from the box. Sam moved over to the crate next to Daniel's.

"Teal'c?"

She whispered, trying to alert her friend before her tampering surprised him. She began to remove the side of the crate. 

They had found a whole room full of these crates when she and Daniel had gone exploring. Most were still filled with merchandise. The Goa'uld had left most of the equipment of the world. They must have considered the level of technology too primitive to deal with.

Once the side was off, Daniel helped her get Teal'c free of the crate. These crates had come in very handy in hiding from the Jaffa. They had heard noises outside several times that day, but nothing in the last couple of hours. 

"Okay, let's load up."

They retrieved the travois from its hiding place and proceeded to get the group moving, carefully erasing all evidence of their having been there.

The team made it to the perimeter before spotting a Jaffa. Luckily the Jaffa had been spread out fairly far apart. Sam managed to take them out with the zat gun...permanently.

Within an hour the group had made it to the edge of the forest. Although in ways this forest resembled more of a jungle than a forest. It wasn't so dense you had to hack your way through like a tropical jungle, but did have high canopy trees, long hanging vines, and an abundance of wildlife. The wildlife ranged from all kinds of birds to those little lizards that Daniel had encountered the first day. Everyone kept an eye out for the lizards not wanting a repeat coma performance, and Daniel was down right jumpy whenever he spotted one. The vines, for their part, hung down from the tall trees and ran across the paths tripping unsuspecting people, like their archeologist who had tripped over them at least 3 times in the first two hours.

They kept moving most of the night stopping only occasionally for half-hour breaks. They had to get as much distance from the Goa'uld stronghold as they could before daybreak, when the much faster Jaffa would be out looking for them. The slow-paced caravan had crossed at least 10 miles by the time the suns had come over the horizon. The team still had a good 10 miles more to go to get to the Stargate. Sam knew they had to keep moving since sooner or later the Jaffa were going to find them. They needed to get to that gate and quickly. 

At least she wasn't as worried about the Colonel. He had come around during the trip through the jungle. Sam had been able to get him walking, mostly by constantly nudging him along in the form of orders, and more than half supporting him as he tried to walk. She was sure the Colonel wasn't really there, even if his eyes were open, especially when he gave her one of those blank glassy eyed stares. _'He must have one heck of a concussion.'_ She thought as she looked over at him. 

There had to be a way to speed up her crew. She looked around at them despairingly. Daniel looked like he was about to drop, having pulled the travois for over 7 hours now, in fact he looked numb. And Bra'tac...well Bra'tac was Bra'tac, however he didn't look too well either after hopping through the forest all night with one leg and a crutch. _'Maybe I should look for a new place for them to hide.'_ It didn't look too promising. They were fresh out of caves.

_'Or'_ , a new thought struck her suddenly, _'maybe a way to slow down the Jaffa... How?'_ Her team wasn't going to make it much further without rest. She was looking over at Daniel. They were on a break and he was leaning against a rock with his eyes closed. He was so tired he didn't even care if one of those lizards crossed his path again, he just wanted to close his eyes. 

Teal'c was attempting to talk to him.

"Daniel Jackson."

"Wh...What?"

Daniel became alert with a start.

"I am curious. How did you and Major Carter come up with such a device?" 

He was looking at the travois on which he was still loaded.

"Oh..."

The archeologist blinked his eyes, focusing on Teal'c. 

"...The North American Indians used these to transport their belongings and their sick or elderly people from one village site to another. The branch was used to disguise the trail of such slow moving groups from rival tribe's warriors."

Teal'c had already guessed the branch's purpose, he was just interested in how they had gotten the idea. These two team members were constantly surprising him with their resourcefulness.

"Of course... they didn't have wheels on theirs and it was pulled by horses not..."

Jackson had slipped into professor mode but did sound a little sheepish as he added.

"...me."

"Horses?"

This time it was Bra'tac that had spoke. 

"Four legged beasts of burden that primitive Tau'ri used for transportation."

Teal'c answered. 

"Ah."

Major Carter walked over to the group. A smirk came over her face as she watched the exchange between the men. 

"Daniel, you okay?"

She had been concerned how tired the scientist had looked. He opened his eyes again to look at her and started to struggle to his feet. She put a hand out to stop him. 

"No, stay put... get as much rest as you can."

"Oh, I'm fine... just a bit tired."

She noticed the black and blue mark forming on his arm. 

"When did this happen?"

Daniel looked over at his arm as if noticing it for the first time. 

"Oh... I think I got it from ONE of the times I fell today."

He grimaced as he spoke, kicking savagely at the nearby vine taking out his frustrations.

Sam just took in the scene, mouth slightly open. Finally she said.

"Thanks, Daniel... You gave me an idea."

She smiled at the archeologist patting his back as she got up leaving.

"What?"

Came Daniel's confused reply to Major Carter's rapidly retreating back.

* * *

Major Carter stepped carefully backwards in her previous tracks. When she had backed up somewhere between five and ten feet, she started forward again. This time making a second set of prints next to the first ones. She had been busy for the last couple hours setting a false trail. She was careful not to leave too much evidence, just a little, so the Jaffa patrol would think they'd grown careless. 

This trail led to a river stream and then into the rocks on the other side. It was a good 75 to 90-degree angle from the real direction they were travelling. She was very careful to erase her return trip. If they had any luck, maybe their pursuers would take the bait. With these trails, along with the other surprises she had laid along them, hopefully SG-1 would gain some time on the Jaffa. 

Meanwhile her team was getting some rest. She hurried on her way back. They needed to get moving if they were to reach the Stargate before nightfall.

* * *

SG-1 slowly made it to the top of the hill-type butte with a steep cliff drop off. They would have liked to skip the hill all together. It appeared the hills went on for miles and going around would have taken another couple days, days they didn't have. They would need to be extra cautious moving on top of the butte to avoid being spotted by the Jaffa from far off. When they finally got to the top the team took a break behind a couple of Volkswagen-sized boulders.

Teal'c and Bra'tac had started to keep watch on the breaks allowing pusher and puller, namely Sam and Daniel, a chance to get some rest. This sounded good in theory, but getting them to cooperate was another matter. Right now Daniel had gone off in search of a pass down off the butte. Teal'c didn't think his going off alone was a good idea, but Major Carter needed the rest. She had gone off on her own this morning and hadn't taken a break with the team. Teal'c hadn't liked her going by herself either.

Sam was sitting with her eyes closed trying to recharge with the Colonel sitting next to her. She had tied a rope around the Colonel's waist with the other end tied around hers; she was afraid that he would wander off in his semi-coherent state.

Teal'c was scanning the horizon with the small binoculars for possible enemies. If he spotted the Jaffa, at least they would know how much of a head start they had. He could only look in two directions due to his body's current movement limitations. So far he had not seen any patrols and was happy about that fact. Well, as happy as Teal'c got anyway. _'Maybe they were off looking elsewhere.'_ Somehow he doubted it; _'they were there, somewhere.'_ The closer they got to the Stargate the easier it would be for the Jaffa to find them. It was obvious that the gate and freedom would be their objective.

Teal'c kept scanning as something caught his eye. He swung back to look again. _'What was...'_ Teal'c removed the glasses from his eyes, blinked and looked again. Hanging fifteen feet up in the air were 5 or 6 Jaffa. It seemed they were upside down hanging from the vines in the large canopy trees. The Jaffa looked extremely distressed, since none of them had managed to hold onto their staffs.

"Teal'c...What is it?"

Bra'tac had noticed Teal'c reaction.

"Over there."

Teal'c handed the older man the binoculars pointing in the direction. Bra'tac put the glasses up to his eyes. He too, slowly removed them with a perplexed look on his face. They both turned and looked at the dozing Carter.

"Major Carter."

"Yeah...uh... What is it, Teal'c?"

She came awake grabbing for her gun, preparing for attack. 

"Major Carter... a most unusual sight." 

He handed her the binoculars and pointed in the direction.

"ALRIGHT!... It worked." 

She looked extremely happy with herself. 

"What worked?"

"The traps...The rope traps I set."

Bra'tac was shaking his head. 

"You set traps on a trail we never were on?!"

"Yeah... I set a false trail... Can you think of a better way to convince them that was the direction we are taking?"

Her impish smile dominating her face now. 

"...Besides, it should slow them down a bit."

She looked around.

"Daniel back?"

"Not yet."

* * *

Later in the day, SG-1 made it down the pass that Daniel had discovered. It led into a narrow valley with a river running through it and from there, more forest. If the team could get across the river it would take several hours, if not days, off their trip. The problem was getting across. The river wasn't real deep, but it was at least 35 to 50 feet across with a considerable current. 

They had found the narrowest point to attempt to cross, well, the narrowest that didn't have rapids anyway. Daniel had come up with the idea of building a small raft out of this bamboo like plant they had found in the forest. The plan was to put an injured team member on the raft while either Jackson or Carter guided it across the rapidly moving river. 

At the moment, the two scientists were lashing together the bamboo stalks with some of those hanging vines. Daniel was starting to change his opinion about the vines; they were coming in handy. 

"Hey, Gilligan... Hand me some vine."

That earned Sam a glare, but in a second it was replaced by a shy smile forming on Daniel's face. 

"That must make you Skipper."

Sam shot a look back at him.

"I'd rather be the Professor."

"Hey... I wanted to be the Professor."

Daniel sounded a bit mock-hurt at her suggestion. 

"... I have the title."

He added as an after thought.

"So do I."

They continued working during the verbal exchange, lashing together more bamboo. The thought of making anything out of bamboo always brought Sam back to the TV show from her youth.

"How about Ginger?"

"Too vain."

"Mary-Ann?"

"I'd still rather be the Professor... so whoever you are, I still need that vine."

Teal'c looked over at his companions as they worked. Another conversation he didn't understand. He would have to remember to ask later, but not now. He was on watch now. His eyes scanned the nearby cliffs and forestland.

Within an hour the raft was finished and Carter was ready to take O'Neill across on its maiden journey. After a brief test for seaworthiness, Jack was loaded aboard. Sam slid into the water and started to guide the raft across. Daniel, for his part, was holding onto a rope attached to the raft, just in case Sam lost it in the swift current. 

Once they had made it to the other side, she hurriedly got Jack unloaded and started the raft back across the river. She had tied another rope to her side of the raft so she could stay on shore. Daniel pulled on his rope slowing yanking the raft toward his shore, while Sam let out slowly on her rope keeping the raft from floating downstream. 

The raft had made it about half way across, when suddenly the entire middle section of the raft exploded. Pieces of bamboo rained down on him as Daniel dove for the ground. Blasts from multiple staff weapons were exploding around them. He heard Teal'c returning fire with the zat gun, and looked up in time to see the crumpled bodies of two Jaffa disappear as Teal'c pushed the trigger one last time.

What was left of the raft had already sunk under the current. Jackson was able to haul up a couple of the pieces that had been attached to the rope. He looked down at his and Sam's destroyed handiwork. _'So much for that afternoon's work. There was no time to build a new one now.'_ He was thankful at least to be able to save the rope.

"Daniel Jackson ... We must leave, NOW."

"Okay."

Daniel answered looking a bit confused but got up obediently. He looked over at Sam. _'Now what?'_

"GO!... we'll wait for you at the gate, now GO!"

She yelled across the river. 

Both parts of SG-1 took off on their respective sides of the river for the cover of the forest. Each knowing that the Jaffa hadn't been alone and the rest of the squad would arrive soon.

A few hours later, Daniel, Bra'tac, and Teal'c were resting in the forest. Carter and O'Neill were nowhere in sight.

Daniel leaned against a rock resting. He looked over at Bra'tac. The man looked spent, although he would never admit it. They had been hobbling and stumbling through the forest for at least 20 hours now. Bra'tac needed these breaks as much as Daniel did. Only Teal'c seemed fairly fresh, of course he wasn't the one pulling. _'That wasn't exactly fair.'_ Jackson berated himself. He knew the path hadn't been smooth, and the large man must be in a lot of pain from the constant jarring and bumping.

It was getting close to nightfall and they were still miles away from the gate. They had finally managed to get across the river. Daniel had built a second raft when Teal'c had thought it was safe. But even then they were several miles downstream from where they had last seen Major Carter and the Colonel.

Ever since they crossed the river they had run into more parties of Jaffa. Most of the time they were able to hide in the forest underbrush but there had been one firefight since the river incident. Unfortunately, the noise from Daniel's .45 during the battle had brought every Jaffa from miles around. Teal'c had used the .45 in the firefight while Bra'tac wielded the zat gun. Jackson, for his part, had ducked and tried not to be a target. They only had the two weapons so he had been unarmed during the battle, leaving the fighting to the professional soldiers. Now they were down to his last spare clip, the grenades and the MP-5 were with Sam. He hoped Sam and Jack were okay. 

Daniel was afraid they would need more than the two weapons to hold off the Jaffa. After the firefight they had, had to hide for several hours until the Jaffa population had thinned back down. At least they had gotten some rest. Still it would have been nice to have some more weapons; he had a feeling they were going to need them when they finally got to the Stargate.

He began to fiddle with a small piece of bamboo plant. This piece was much smaller than the bigger stalks they had used in the raft. It must have been a branch off one of the larger stalks. He drummed it around with his fingers. It was strong, yet light and hollow. _'Hollow...kind of like a straw.'_ Daniel peered down one end. 

About that time another one of those lizards crawled up on a rock about five feet in front of Daniel. He instantly shifted warily, being more than a bit startled at the sight. The lizard didn't seem to be in any big hurry though; it just sat there sunning itself. Daniel relaxed a little but kept his eyes on the little beast. 

_'I wonder.'_ He reached down picking up a small stone. Daniel carefully got to his feet, still crouching down, placed the stone at the end of the hollowed branch. He brought the other end of the tube to his mouth and with a quick breath of air, shot the tiny stone at the reptile. The stone skidded against the large rock surface sending the lizard scurrying, fortunately not in the direction of Daniel or his party.

_'Ha! Take that.'_ A smile of triumph settled on the archeologist's face for getting some kind of justice against the reptiles. He looked down at the branch again. _'Wait a minute... lizard ... branch... Oh!'_

Bra'tac could almost see the wheels beginning to turn in the younger man's head. He was getting ready to berate Jackson for the stunt like he was one of his Jaffa students, when he noticed how the man had suddenly changed, focused somehow. There could have been serious consequences if that lizard had chosen another direction to flee. Daniel might have gotten out of the way but he and Teal'c could not. 

He watched the young scientist now, the total concentration. It was as if he and Teal'c were no longer there. Bra'tac opened his mouth to ask Dr. Jackson a question when he notice Teal'c signal him not to disturb Daniel. Teal'c had warned him how absolutely driven both Carter and Jackson could be when they were on the trail of some solution.

Daniel was searching the area looking at the plants. He was moving back and forth in a kind of frantic dance talking softly to himself. Suddenly he swung around quickly to face the large Jaffa.

"Teal'c! ... Have you seen a plant with some large thorns around here? I know I saw one this morning."

Daniel's words were all coming out in a mad rush, the way it did when his brain was working ten times faster than his mouth. His hands were moving rapidly as if they could dispel the extra energy his voice could not. 

"There is one 50 feet in that direction."

Teal'c pointed. He would have asked what the archeologist wanted it for, but Daniel was gone. 

A second later Jackson was back. This time with a large branch full of 2-inch thorns resembling needles from a pine tree, only many times sharper.

"Thanks."

came an absent-minded response.

Bra'tac just sat and watched in stunned silence. Teal'c had told him Daniel sometimes acted impulsively. He wasn't sure whether he should ask the scientist a question or just sit back and watch the show. 

Having sat down on the rock, Daniel was removing one of the thorns. He then carefully fashioned a shaft from several pieces of long grass, tying the thorn at the end. Picking up the small hollow bamboo tube, Daniel placed his creation at one end, and put the other end to his mouth. He sighted on a nearby tree and then blew quickly into the tube. Daniel's homemade missile sailed rapidly across the ten foot span to the tree, sticking into the trunk.

"Alright!"

He exclaimed, looking down at the small tube like it was a precious jewel he had just discovered. He then walked over to examine his handiwork stuck in the tree trunk. 

Bra'tac could hold it in no longer.

"Dr. Jackson, what is this?"

He indicated the bamboo stick, the tree, all of it. 

"He is making a blowgun."

Teal'c answered for Daniel. He had seen these before. They had encountered Indian people on Hansen's planet that used these type of weapons. Only theirs contained a compound that would bring down an enemy, if not kill them.

"What purpose will this device serve? It will do little more than annoy the Jaffa warriors."

"Well that's because it's not done yet... "

A shy smile forming on Daniel's face, he slipped into professor mode. 

"You see, native tribes in the rain forest have used blowguns such as these to bring down game or defend against an enemy..."

He took a breath and then charged ahead, a little slower this time.

"...They used the venom from a rare tree frog to coat the tip of their darts..."

His attention turned from the Jaffa back to his task. 

"I need something..." 

Jackson was talking to himself again. He picked up a long bamboo stalk and then sitting down, began to gather together long blades of the stiff heavy grass. He held them at the end of the stalk while securing the grass with one of the spare strips from his shirt. Then he looked it over making sure it would stand up to its job. His attention turned once again to the undergrowth.

"Now where'd those lizards go?"

"You're not actually going to touch one?"

surprise lacing Bra'tac's voice.

"No..."

Daniel shook his head chuckling lightly. He held up his latest creation.

"That is why I made this."

"Daniel Jackson..."

Daniel turned to face Teal'c who was looking at him with all seriousness. A question flickered onto the young man's face.

"...I had not realized archeology was useful training for battle."

_'In this case its anthropology'_ he thought, slightly stunned by the Jaffa's comment, but said only.

"Thank you.... I think."

* * *

Daniel Jackson crouched down in the tall grass. Bra'tac had eased himself down beside him. The injured man would probably need the scientist's help to rise again, but the important thing right now was not being seen. 

The small band was in sight of the Stargate. Daniel could see it in the distance. However, he could also see the thirty or more Jaffa surrounding it in the dim moonlight. He wished they knew whether Sam and Jack were also out here hiding in the darkness.

Whatever the plan, they would have to implement it before daylight when their position would be discovered. The odds didn't look good for two injured warriors and one archeologist. Daniel prayed one more time that Sam was out there, and that she still had her MP-5 and those two grenades.

He had made six or seven dozen of the mini grass thorn/darts, all laced with lizard paralyzing fluid. Now he hoped they worked. Teal'c had thought it would be safer to make many preloaded blowguns rather than try to reload in the middle of battle. Daniel was sure the reason was partly that Teal'c didn't trust him not to stick himself while loading the dart. Well, whatever the reason Daniel had collected enough small bamboo reeds to make a couple dozen blowguns apiece.

After testing each one to make sure the dart would fire, Teal'c insisted on loading them with the paralyzing darts himself. He claimed to be at the least risk from being stuck since he had to be carried across the gate anyway. That may be true, but Jackson really didn't feel comfortable going into a firefight without Teal'c able to back him up, immobile or not. He tried not to think about it.

The biggest problem with the whole blowgun operation was finding the lizards. Seemed like those damn lizards were everywhere until he wanted to find them. The archeologist used his long handled grass-device to lightly brush some of the fluid from the lizard's skin and then transfer the material to the darts. The problem was he could only get about five darts done at a time before the lizard would get nervous and leave. Daniel would then have to track down another one.

* * *

Daniel did a kind of crouched walk, if you could call it walking, as he went from shrub to shrub, keeping as low as possible. He pulled a long vine stringing it out behind him. He worked his way back to Bra'tac having finished setting up their diversion. He handed the vine to the master Jaffa praying that this was going to work.

Looking over at the man, Daniel nodded silently wishing him luck. He had to get going, it was now or never. It wouldn't be long before the sun would begin to rise. The young scientist stopped by Teal'c to indicate to his friend he was ready to go ahead with the plan. He then took off again. 

Daniel's job was to take out as many of the forward guard as he could without getting caught. Then he was to lead some of the remaining Jaffa back to where Teal'c was hiding with the zat gun. Bra'tac in the meantime, was to set off the diversion to draw as many Jaffa away from the gate as possible, and then hobble out of there as quickly as he could. 

Daniel crept along through the tall grass thinking once again how crazy this all was. He was an archeologist not a soldier. _'What do I think I'm doing... still, desperate times...'_ Daniel had never liked the plan. He would have felt better about it if this part had fallen to any other member of the team. He'd have more confidence that it would succeed. But Daniel was the only one mobile enough to pull it off and he wasn't going to let his team down... that is if at all possible.

When he was within 10 to 15 feet of one of the Jaffa, he aimed his homemade missile and shot. Luckily it connected with the Jaffa's neck and he crumpled. _'Well that was one...'_ one more than he expected to get actually. He crept toward a second Jaffa, aimed quickly and shot again. The Jaffa silently dropped. His luck was holding. He snuck up on a third Jaffa, aimed and shot. The dart went wide.

_'Oh hell!'_

It had whipped by the guard quietly, but not quietly enough. The Jaffa had heard something on the wind and spun in Daniel's direction. The archeologist fumbled for another blowgun, in his haste knocking one to the ground. Before he was able to grab another, he was knocked off his feet. He rolled onto his back looking up into the end of a fully charged staff weapon. 

_'Shit!'_

"Get on your feet."

A rough voice barked out. Apparently the Goa'uld wanted them alive or the Jaffa would have fried him where he lay. Probably wanted to gain points with the system lord by turning them over.

Jackson's arm brushed against something on the ground. It was the bamboo gun. His fingers fumbled for it while his eyes never left the Jaffa's face. 

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Noise of gun shots came from Daniel's .45 in the distance. The Jaffa's attention was drawn off Daniel for an instant. With adrenaline pumping Jackson brought the blowgun up to his lips, praying he had the right end pointed at the Jaffa. Fate was with him as the end of the small dart embedded itself in the Jaffa's neck. The warrior toppled onto the top of SG-1's archeologist. 

Daniel frantically pushed at the fallen Jaffa, trying to get out from under him, almost in a panic. When he finally freed himself he just sat on the ground almost hyperventilating. His heart was racing. He tried to calm down, taking deep breaths. His friends were depending on him; he gritted his teeth and prepared to go on. He looked around; luckily the other Jaffa had been distracted by the gunshot and had not seen this one drop.

* * *

Bra'tac was hopping through the underbrush, getting as far away from the gunshot site as possible. He knew that at least a dozen Jaffa were descending on his position. It had been his job to pull the vine attached to the trigger of Daniel's gun. Dr. Jackson had placed the gun in one of the trees at the edge of the clearing. 

The young man had set it up so the gun could be shot using the long vine, well actually several long vines and one short rope, to allow Bra'tac the best chance to get away. The master Jaffa had been at least 50 yards away from the tree when he yanked on the vine. Now he was trying to add to that distance without drawing too much attention to himself. They should be getting close anytime now. Bra'tac began to see shapes coming toward him in the darkness. He crunched down to the ground getting out his blowgun. If any of them got too close they would feel its sting, this he vowed.

The shadowy figures passed his hiding spot and ventured into the trees. He shook his head as he watched their retreating backs. No Jaffa he trained would have been fooled so easily, of course no Jaffa he trained would have ended up 15 feet in the air either, or at least he hoped so. A smirked crossed his face when he realized he was glad he had not trained these.

In a few minutes there may be some more Jaffa hanging from trees, or at least that was the plan. He had helped Dr. Jackson with the diversion, setting some of the Major's vine traps that she had shown him earlier. He slowly got to his feet when the Jaffa were no longer in sight, and keeping as low as his leg would allow made his way back to Teal'c.

* * *

Sam peeked through the tall grass, something was happening; she could just feel it. As she watched, several Jaffa disappeared from their posts. Suddenly she heard gunshots ring from the distance trees. _'Daniel's gun... Was he in trouble?.. I need... but what about the Colonel?... I can't just leave him here... Oh, Daniel!'_ She felt so helpless. 

A dozen or so Jaffa warriors took off running toward the distant woods. The odds were getting better at getting to the gate. She decided to move herself and Jack closer. Maybe at least she could get him home. If she gained control of the gate it would give the rest of the team a chance. If they were ever to get home, they had to get to that DHD.

She hoped she was doing the right thing and said a small prayer for the rest of SG-1. They began to move, keeping low in the grass. 

* * *

Daniel searched the ground for several large stones. He had to get back to Teal'c before that first batch of Jaffa returned. He found three good sized ones and shoved them into his pockets. He then skirted the Jaffa still guarding the gate, getting some distance between himself and them. He turned and threw one of the big stones toward the warriors, hoping for a loud noise. The stone didn't make a lot of noise but it must have been enough, since the Jaffa instantly became alert. 

Daniel backed off a bit more, still keeping low, and threw the second stone. He moved in Teal'c's direction, away from the Jaffa, and heaved the third again toward the enemy. Several Jaffa were moving in his direction now and he began to run. 

Apparently the Jaffa had caught sight of him because he began to hear the blasts from their staffs contacting the ground behind him. The last one being no more than five feet back. That spurred him onward as he led the Jaffa toward the hiding Teal'c and Bra'tac. 

_'Keep out of range, Jackson! .... Keep out of range!'_

Chanting this to himself as he ran along. He ran faster hoping he wouldn't collapse before completing his task. His lungs were burning. 

_'Any time now, Sam.'_

He mentally sent a silent request to the missing part of the team for a little help, again hoping they were out there. He recognized the shrub up ahead where Teal'c lay. Another blast, this time closer. He pushed on running past the hiding spot and whispered.

"Here they come."

He kept running, not slowing down, listening for the commotion that would indicate Teal'c's plan was working. When the first Jaffa had run past the brush, blue lightning of the zat gun shot out from the bush. Again and again the lightning flashed. 

Teal'c kept firing, taking out as many of the Jaffa as he could before they discovered his position, and would turn and fire. Bra'tac was beside him shooting the mini darts from the blowguns. He connected with at least two of the six Jaffa that had been following Daniel. Some of the Jaffa got hit with the zat gun and the darts. 

Within a minute or two all the Jaffa were down, and Teal'c let out a little sigh of relief before preparing himself for the next attack. They had cut the number at the gate down from thirty to about ten. Now, if they could just get to the gate before the other Jaffa returned. 

* * *

Sam had moved at least 75 feet closer to the gate when she saw blue fire shooting out in the distance to her left. She now had no doubts it was her team out there. It was time for her to act. There was less than a dozen Jaffa at the gate now; she would never have a better shot. She helped the Colonel to the ground ordering him to stay put. She wasn't sure he understood but she'd have to chance it. She edged forward, couching low. Pulling out a grenade she lobbed it into the Jaffa. 

BOOM! 

Jaffa bodies went flying through the air. Staff blasts began to hit the ground in her direction. She answered by spraying the remaining Jaffa with bullets from her MP-5. She got a couple more. Now if she could just get the rest in a nice tight group. She kept firing, then seeing her chance she pulled out the last grenade, threw it at the Jaffa, and ducked. 

BOOM! 

Rock, dust, and Jaffa all went flying. She raised her head, carefully checking the surroundings while tightly grasping her gun. She saw no one. Had she got them all? Optimism soared in her _'Maybe they would make it home.'_

Sam doubled back to get the Colonel and then half dragged him to the DHD. She began to dial home, glancing over her shoulder for Jaffa. 

_'Come on guys!'_

Sending mental encouragement to her missing team members. Swoosh went the wormhole as she hit the middle dome. Quickly Sam punched in the GDO codes. 

_'Come on guys, where are you?'_

She scanned the space in front of the DHD with her MP-5 ready. She saw movement, she quickly brought up the gun.

"Sam, its us..."

came the desperate sounding voice of the youngest teammate in the darkness.

"... don't shoot!"

In a second Daniel came into view pulling the travois behind him. Bra'tac was hobbling along as fast as he could beside Daniel. Teal'c was still pointing the zat gun at the darkness preparing to shoot as the scientist pulled him along. 

"Daniel Jackson, Hurry!"

came Teal'c voice with more than a touch of anxiety after seeing movement further in the field. 

Jackson was pulling the travois up the steps now. Teal'c gritted his teeth against the jarring and concentrated on his aim. 

"Daniel, GO!"

The Major ordered. Daniel never broke stride, just kept pulling them up the steps. 

"You too Bra'tac"

Daniel had reached the event horizon when the first staff blasts began to rain down near the gate. He went through. Bra'tac was only a couple of steps behind him. Knowing he wouldn't be any help in the fight, he followed Daniel through. 

Sam grabbed Jack dragging him up the steps, firing her weapon as she went. They backed quickly into the gate. 

Daniel stumbled down the metal ramp into the SGC gateroom. After having cleared the gate with the travois by at least five feet, he slumped to his knees. He could go no further. He couldn't move if he had to and was glad he didn't need to. He was safe. They were home. All the adrenaline that he had been living on for the last two days drained from his body.

Bra'tac came stumbling across the event horizon followed shortly thereafter by Major Carter holding up the Colonel. Carter yelled for the iris to be closed as SGC medical personnel came running into the gateroom.

* * *

Dr. Fraiser rushed around the infirmary checking on her patients. SG-1 tended to injure themselves more than most of the SGC units, but this time they had out done themselves. Three out of four needed some kind of medical attention. The fourth, Janet looked over at Samantha Carter as she finished examining her, looked like she needed a week in bed just to combat the exhaustion.

The Colonel's head injury had worried her when they first arrived a couple of hours ago in the gateroom. Now the signs were looking good. They would know for sure in a few hours but everything looked like it was healing on its own. They were lucky, the Colonel's injuries could have gone either way on the planet, he could have died from them. Janet thought it best not to mention this, the team looked traumatized enough as it was.

The General came walking into the infirmary to check on his people. He noted all five beds were covered by SG-1 and the master Jaffa. 

"How are they doing Doctor?"

"Well, sir ... I managed to put casts on Teal'c and Bra'tac. Both of Teal'c legs are busted. Bra'tac isn't much better, his right leg is broken along with his left arm. I'm happy to say that Dr. Jackson was able to get the bones back in the right position when he put on the splints. Their symbiotes have been healing the injuries. I should be able to remove the casts in about a week. They'll be as good as new."

She turned to look at the sleeping Colonel.

"As far as Colonel O'Neill... It will be a few hours before I know for sure, but right now it is looking encouraging. If things go as I think they will, he will be out of action for a couple weeks but then should be fine. He is starting to show signs of becoming coherent, so that's good. "

"And Doctor Jackson?"

The General had noticed the numerous white bandages wrapped about the young man's bare chest and shoulders. The doctor turned to look at Daniel.

"Yes, well... both he and Major Carter are suffering from extreme fatigue. I recommend several days mandatory rest."

She took a breath but before she could continue, the General jumped in.

"Well what about all the bandages?" 

"Dr. Jackson pulled Teal'c for over two days through some rough country, sir. The straps from the harness cut pretty deep into his chest and shoulders. He also has some pretty nasty blisters along the cuts. Needless to say, he will not be shouldering any packs in the near future. I got him on pain killers and antibiotics now to fight infection."

The General nodded his head in understanding. 

"We'll debrief in a half hour people... Dr. Jackson... Major Carter."

"General Hammond."

Teal'c interrupted him, pointing in the direction of two of the beds. Both Daniel and Sam were fast asleep, oblivious to the General and his last order.

The General's tone softened when he looked where Teal'c had pointed.

"Make that 0900 hours tomorrow."

He turned to Janet. 

"You'll inform them, Doctor?"

"Yes, sir."

The General strolled purposely from the room. He had other troublesome teams to check up on.

Bra'tac looked over at Teal'c's team. They had pulled off the impossible yet again. When he had first encountered these humans he thought them pathetic. O'Neill had impressed him, taking his staff, knocking him to the ground, and then stating mildly "that if he didn't want to come along just say so." But the other two, a woman and a scholar; this was not a good fighting team, not one he would have ever picked to succeed.

Yet over the last two days they had proven themselves once again. Bra'tac thought he understood why Apophis was having so much trouble with this small band of Tau'ri and with SG-1 in particular. They didn't react like any enemy they had encountered before. They didn't quit no matter how ridiculous the odds. They would just come up with a new way to fight, just as they had the last two days. He was not trained to think this way. No Jaffa was trained to think this way. You followed orders and accepted fate. 

O'Neill and his team didn't. They cheated fate, rewrote it. He had gotten the first feel for that after blowing up the shield generator on Apophis's ship. When asked "What now?", he had answered "Now we die". That was the logical conclusion, they had done what they had come to do. O'Neill had answered simply "Well that's a bad plan", and he and Carter had come up with a new one that had saved all their lives.

Bra'tac hopped off his bed and hobbled over to the beds holding the sleeping archeologist and sleeping astrophysicist. He looked down at them fondly. _'They were children. He had great grandchildren older than these.'_

He looked at Carter. A woman, one who had proven she was every bit a warrior as the others. One who could lead men into battle or equally solve some critical problem the team was having. _'Yes, he would be proud to fight next to Carter.'_

He turned to Daniel... a scholar, a weakling, or least that is what he had believed when Bra'tac had first met the man. He didn't believe that any more. He had seen this weakling pull his much heavier friend for days with only pure stubbornness driving him. He had seen the wounds that were inflicted though he hadn't complained. He looked down at Daniel. _'Perhaps never a soldier, but a warrior nevertheless.'_

He had been wrong about them. They had more than proven their worth. As he looked at them he said softly.

"Sleep well brave and fierce warriors of Earth."

 

**The End**

  


* * *

  


> Special thanks to Adrianna who not only was editor but beta reader too.

* * *

> December 5, 2001  
> © The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television,   
> Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd.   
> Partnership.  
> This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and   
> solely meant for entertainment.   
> All other characters, the story idea and the story itself   
> are the sole property of the author.   
> 

* * *

  



End file.
